Othello

片断： Shake-sceneinacountry'.BythistimeShakespearehadalreadywritten theHenryVlplays(fromwhichGreenehadquotedinhisinsulting remarks).In1593thenarrativepoemVenusandAdoniswaspublished, anditwasdedicatedtoHenryWriothesley,thethirdEarlofSouthamp- ton.In1594TheRapeofLucrece,anothernarrativepoem,waspub- lishedanddedicatedtothesameperson.Itwasalsoprobablyduring theperiod1592-4,whentheLondontheatreswereclosedbecauseofthe outbreaksoftheplague,thatmanyofthesonnetswerewritten,and somecommentatorshavesuggestedthatWriothesleyisthemysterious 'Mr.W.H.'towhomtheywerededicatedwhenthevwereDublished in1609. By1594Shakespearewasainemoerormecompanyolactorsknown astheLordChamberlain'sMen,whichnumberedamongitsranks actorsliketheclownWilliamKempe,andthefamousRichardBur- bage.Weknowtoothat,inadditiontowritingplaysforthiscompany, Shakespearcalsoactedhimself.Fdrexample,heactedinBenJonson's comedyEveryManinHisHumonrin1598,aplayhewastoremember whenhecametowriteOlhello,andlaterinJonson'sSejanus(1603) wherehemayhaveplayedthepartofTiberius.Althoughthereisno evidenceforit,ithasbeensuggestedthatheplayedtheroleofAdamiH hisownAsYouLikeIt(1598-9),andtheGhostinHamlet(1600-1) TheregularplayhouseoftheLordChamberlain'sMenwasThe Theatre,situatedinShoreditchoutsidethenorthemboundarlesofthe CityofLondon,andwhichhadbeenbuiltbyCuthbertandRichard Burbagein1576,longbeforeShaKespearearrivedinLondon.In1598 thisplayhousewasdismantledanditstimberstakenacrosstoSouth- warkonthesouthbankbftheRiverThamesinordertobuildtheGlobe Theatre.ThisisthetheatrewithwhichwemostassociateShakespeare. Heownedatenthshareinthenewenterprise,andwasthusentitledto 'receivetenpercentoftheprofits. By1597Shakespearehadmadeenoughmoneytobuythehouse knownasNewPlace,thesecondbiggesthouseinStratford.Thiswas thefirstofanumberofpurchasesoflandwhichhemadeduringthe period1597to1605,andrecordsofhisvariousbusinessdealirigsin Stratfordstillsurvive.In1596,attheageofeleven,hissonHamnet died,whilein1601hisfatherJohnalsodied.In1607hiseldestdaughter SusannamarriedJohnHall,andtheymayhavelivedforsometimein thecottagenowknownasHall'sCroft(whichcurrentlyhousesthe StratfordFestivalClub).AfterShakespeare'sdeathin1616theHalls movedintoNewPlace. By1603,whenQueenElizabeth1died,Shakespearehadwrit.ten sometwenty-fourplaysandtheChamberlain'sMenhadbecomethe leadingactingcompanyofthetime.Indeed,ithasbeensuggestedthat theplayTheMerryWivesOfWindsor(1600),waswrittenattherequest ofElizabethherself.AftertheQueen'sdeaththecompanychangedits nametotheKing'sMen,andwasinreceiptofthepatronageofthenew king,James1.AyearaftertheKing'saccessipntothethroneOthello appeared,andwasactedbeforehimattheChristmasfestivitiesofthat year.Itwasduringtheperiod1600to1607thatShakespearewrotethe majortragedies,beginningwithHamletin1600-1,andendingwith Coriolanusin1607-8. In1608,Shakespeare,alongwithhisbusinessassociatestheBur- bages,JohnHemingesandHenryCondell(wholaterjointlyeditedthe FirstFolioofShakespeare'splaysin1623),ThomasEvans,andWilliam Sly,leasedasmallindoortheatreintheCityofLondoncalledBlack- friars.Somecriticshavefeltthatthisnewbuilding,differentinits structurefromtheGlobe,playedalargepartinthenoticeablealter- ationofShakespeare'sdramaticstyleatthistime.Itisarguedthat playslikePericles(1607-8),Cymbeline(1609),TheWinler'sTale(1610), andTheTempest(1611)aretheresultofShakespeare'sartisticresponse toanewandmoreintimatekindoftheatre.Unfortunatelythisargu- mentdoesnothold,sincethefirstrecordofaperformanceofThe Winter'sTalein1611intimatesthatittookplaceattheGlobe.Alsoit isknownthatoneofShakespeare'sverylastplays,HenryVIII,was performedattheGlobebecauseduringanactualperformancethe firingofacannonsetthetheatrealight,andbumedittotheground. After1613Shakespeareseemstohavewrittennomoreplays.His lastfewyearswerespentinretirementinStratford,wherehediedon 23April1616.PopularlegendhasitthatShakespearecaughtafever afteradrinkingboutwithBenJonsonandthepoetMichaelDrayton. Unfortunately,wedonotknowthecircumstancesofhisdeath,but hiswillsurvives,andbiographershavesoughttoinfermuchfromits contents.Forexample,thebequestofhis'secondbestbedwiththe fumiture'tohiswidowAnnehaspromptedspeculationaboutmatri- monialdishannonyintheShakespearehousehold.Buthislatest,and possiblymostreliable,biographer,ProfessorSamuelSchoenbaum* hassuggestedthatinanyeventAnnewpuldhavebeenentitledtoone- thirdofShakespeare'sestate,andthatthebedmaywellhavehadsenti- mentalassociations.Itseemsmorethanlikelythatthebestbedwas teservedforvisitorstoNewPlace. In1623,somesevenyearsafterShakespeare'sdeath,twoofhis fonnerpartnersJohnHemingesandHenryCondellgatheredtogether hisplaysinoneimpressivevolume,knownastheFirstFolio.Ofthe thirty-fiveplaysthatthisvolumecontainssomesixteenhadnever beforeappearedinprint. WilllamShakespeareACompactDocumentary.Life,Oxford,1977.